Listen to the article
Automation, AI assistants and a growing need for a proactive — rather than reactive — approach to customer experience will transform customer service by 2028, according to a Gartner report released last month.
“AI and rapidly changing customer expectations are driving the evolution of the customer service function,” Brad Fager, a senior director analyst in Gartner’s customer service and support practice, said in a news release. “Agentic AI is driving the function toward a more automated future, meaning traditional value models focused around human-to-human interactions will shift.”
Here are the top three trends Gartner identified shaping the future of customer service:
Customer service leaders feel pressure to automate
A whopping 79% of customer service leaders report feeling at least some internal or external pressure to adopt generative AI. Many executives believe it has the potential to reduce staffing requirements significantly.
Greater automation could help businesses manage inbound volume, ensuring that humans only intervene when needed, according to Gartner.
Embedded AI may also help customer service and support, predict service issues and resolve them before they worsen, according to the report. Automation could let customer service operate more efficiently by handling data cleaning, records management, knowledge creation and governance.
“Leaders must adopt a business-owner mindset, combining their understanding of customers with strategy, AI, ethics and collaboration skills. The focus will move from operational stability to growth, enhancing customer adoption and retention, and product innovation,” Gartner said.
Customers will rely more and more on AI assistants for customer service and support
More than half of customers would be willing to use a generative AI assistant for customer service, potentially transforming customer relationships, according to Gartner.
Customers who use an AI assistant will likely raise more requests because it requires far less effort, which could increase operational costs, according to the report.
Customers could soon use third-party AI applications to automate service and support interactions, the analyst firm said, forcing businesses to handle a growing number of interactions with nonhuman customers and reducing the quality and quantity of customer data.
“Widespread adoption of AI assistants by customers poses a cost risk that could undermine any gains made by customer service automation,” Fager said. “AI assistants act as both a channel and a customer proxy, requiring responses similar to human customers. Leaders must adapt to serve both human and AI assistants effectively.”
Customer service moves upstream
Connected devices and subscription models create a greater need for service and support, making it essential to integrate customer service throughout the customer journey. Executives should focus on product usage, adoption and revenue growth to reduce customer service costs and improve financial performance, according to Gartner.
Customer service used to be a “fallback option” but is now a product feature, according to the report.
“The focus of customer service will move from managing demand to value creation, with AI supporting human agents and freeing them for expanded roles,” Fager said. “Leaders must prioritize collaboration and value addition across the enterprise, strategically distributing service capabilities and maintaining overarching vision and governance.”